Structurally Deformed MoS2 for Electrochemically Stable, Thermally Resistant, and Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

The emerging molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) offers intriguing possibilities for realizing a transformative new catalyst for driving the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the trade-off between catalytic activity and long-term stability represents a formidable challenge and has not been extensively addressed. This study reports that metastable and temperature-sensitive chemically exfoliated MoS₂ (ce-MoS₂) can be made into electrochemically stable (5000 cycles), and thermally robust (300 °C) while maintaining synthetic scalability and excellent catalytic activity through physical-transformation into 3D structurally deformed nanostructures. The dimensional transition enabled by a high throughput electrohydrodynamic process provides highly accessible, and electrochemically active surface area and facilitates efficient transport across various interfaces. Meanwhile, the hierarchically strained morphology is found to improve electronic coupling between active sites and current collecting substrates without the need for selective engineering the electronically heterogeneous interfaces. Specifically, the synergistic combination of high strain load stemmed from capillarity-induced-self-crumpling and sulfur (S) vacancies intrinsic to chemical exfoliation enables simultaneous modulation of active site density and intrinsic HER activity regardless of continuous operation or elevated temperature. These results provide new insights into how catalytic activity, electrochemical-, and thermal stability can be concurrently enhanced through the physical transformation that is reminiscent of nature, in which properties of biological materials emerge from evolved dimensional transitions.

Bioinspired dimensional transition of MoS₂ enables the modulation of catalytic property and drastically improves the long-term operational stability while preserving the synthetic scalability. The experimental demonstration provides elegant insights into how physical transformation can be leveraged to direct energetics of electrochemical processes.

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